No claw grip

maisyfleur · **Posted:** Tue Mar 03, 2009 2:01 pm

Hi Everyone

My buff silkie aged 9 mths who was unwell a few mths ago is still not looking 100%. I notice that when she walks she lifts her feet up really high which looks awkward.

I also notice that she sleeps in a nesting box opposed to the perches and when she gets out of the nesting box she finds it very difficult. She appears to be a bit unstable when walking on the fox floor of the coop.

I grabbed her this morning for a closer look and notice that if I lift her up and put my fingers under her feet she does not grab on to them - I tested three other chooks who all grabbed my finger. Its as though she has lost all gripping action in her feet.

Does anyone know what this might be and whether it can be treated?

debbieo4914 · **Posted:** Thu Mar 05, 2009 7:07 am

Hi maisyfleur,

Your poor silkie has had a rough trot! If both legs/feet are the same it is less likely to be an injury (unless she may have hurt her back - just guessing???). Have you checked her bottom/pelvis to see if she might be egg-bound (another guess)?

Other than that, do you know if she was vaccinated for Marek's disease? Although I think that in most cases that affects one side more than the other in the early stages.

Hopefully someone else might have some other ideas about what might be wrong with her.

Deb

maisyfleur · **Posted:** Mon Mar 09, 2009 2:48 pm

Thanks Deb

She seems to be getting worse - she sits about most of the day huddled up. Somebody has pecked her face and drawn a bit of blood so I may have to put her in a seperate coop.

I just don't know what to try with her anymore. I have medicated her with everything but she still doesn't seem to get over it completely. She still eats and drinks but when the others are all out scratching around she is asleep in the grass.

She hasn't been vaccinated for Mareks so I guess she might have that. I cannot feel any lumps or tumours in the legs though.

I don't know how to check if she is eggbound but doubt it as this has been going on for months now and I am guessing that if she had been egg bound this long it would have killed her???
I wormed her with a tablet on Sunday and treated her for mites/lice with moxidectin through the skin. Her bum was pooey so I have cut it all away to see if she still has some sort of stomach upset.

Not sure if this is a sign for anything but her wattles are very dry and flaky white. I cannot see any other signs of illness.

Any other ideas???

Maisyfleur

debbieo4914 · **Posted:** Mon Mar 09, 2009 4:08 pm

Anyone else have any ideas???

I really don't know, Maisyfleur, other than to say she probably isn't eggbound if it's been a while now. Sorry she's not better, and I can't offer any more advice. Vet maybe?

maisyfleur · **Posted:** Fri Mar 20, 2009 1:16 pm

I had a good hard think about little Pumpkin and when all the problems started. I remember months ago I had a rooster who I did not realise was a rooster until he was jumping on everyone. He had a particular liking for her and although I got rid of him immediately I think he had injured her when he jumped on her as I seem to remember that is when she started getting sick. I spoke to vet about it and they agreed that a large rooster jumping on her could very well have caused this type of injury. As the nervous system is outisde of the immune system this would explain why she had not responded to antibiotics. If it was just muscle damage it should have corrected itself with some rest but as it hasn't then she had prob damaged the nerves which was why she had no claw grip in her left leg.

I have recently changed to an elevated coop that has ramps leading up to it. Unfortunately Pumpkin was unable to manouvre up and down the ramps so I felt the best thing to do was to put her down. It was sad but I had done everything I possibly could for her and she was never going to recover.

RIP little Pumpkin

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